Crypto PhilanthropyCrypto-powered donations to nonprofits, onchain donor-advised funds, NFT fundraisers, DAO-managed grant pools, and smart contracts automating reporting… crypto philanthropy has become a rare constant in web3, holding steady even as markets shift.
And not only that. Over the past few years, it has been expanding. According to The Giving Block, more than $1 billion in crypto was donated in 2024, a 386.33% increase on the previous year as digital-asset markets recovered and donors grew more comfortable giving directly in crypto. Adoption has broadened as well: 70% of Forbes’ Top 100 US charities now accept crypto, up from under 12% in 2020.
This is mainly because modern giving now moves through a global and digital landscape that legacy systems can no longer keep up with. Crypto fills that gap, offering practical tools that strengthen the entire giving chain. It moves funds instantly, works across borders, and lets people give appreciated assets directly, often avoiding capital-gains taxes. And with new donor demographics holding more of their wealth in digital form, it’s important to build systems and pathways that match how they support the causes they care about.
This Crypto Altruists’ guide looks at how crypto is being used in philanthropy, what possibilities and constraints come with it, and how we’re beginning to see the shaping of a whole new infrastructure for global giving.
“In the most challenging fiscal year of my career as a nonprofit CEO, I realized I had to take crypto seriously. If I didn’t, the ship was going to sail without us and, with it, take resources that could help girls around the world access education and unlock their dreams.”
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, we saw a humanitarian breakdown as well as a financial one. Under pressure, banks closed, payment corridors froze, currency controls tightened, and international transfers stalled. This is the same infrastructure that nonprofit actors rely on every day, and, in that moment, it clearly couldn’t keep up.
Crypto became one of the only channels capable of moving value into the country at the speed the situation required. In the first week, the Ukrainian government raised more than 50 million dollars in crypto through its official wallets, while community fundraisers like UkraineDAO added millions more. NGOs, including Save the Children, Project HOPE, and the International Rescue Committee, received crypto gifts within hours, long before conventional transfers stabilized.
In contrast to the fragile global giving rails, blockchain-based ones were able to solve for real operational constraints. Support moved quickly without banking delays, transfers cleared even as the local currency collapsed, and every donation was recorded transparently onchain. Just as importantly, nonprofits weren’t stuck waiting for institutional approvals or correspondent-bank risk reviews.
Beyond Ukraine, similar dynamics occurred after the Türkiye and Syria earthquake in 2023 and in other humanitarian crises that followed. NGOs again received thousands of dollars in ETH, USDT, and USDC within the first day. Donor mobilization moved across continents at a pace traditional pipelines rarely reach, and smaller NGOs gained access to global supporters without needing complex financial infrastructure.
These situations showed how crypto can step in as a vital operational toolkit that fixes long-standing bottlenecks in aid delivery in several ways:
With blockchain, every transfer is recorded on a public ledger. Nonprofits gain verifiable records, compliance teams gain full traceability, and donors can see where their support lands. Transparency becomes a built-in feature rather than an administrative burden.
Crypto settles in minutes and works globally by default. Nonprofits can deploy liquidity without waiting for international wires, bank reopenings, or intermediary approvals. Especially during crisis response, speed becomes a real advantage.
Aid delivery loses money to fees, cash-out costs, currency spreads, and multiple intermediaries, but crypto can help reduce much of this friction. Mercy Corps Ventures saw this directly in Syria, where stablecoin rails cut delivery costs by 60% compared to traditional money-transfer agents and delivered a higher share of every aid dollar to participants.
Crypto rails keep functioning even when local banking systems are unstable or hard to access. In countries like Venezuela and Nigeria, hyperinflation, capital controls, or cash shortages make everyday transfers difficult, yet nonprofits use stablecoins to keep operations moving, local people use them to hold value when their currencies lose stability.
With one in four people globally holding crypto, digital assets have become part of how many supporters store, track, and move value. Accepting crypto aligns with these habits, makes giving easier, and opens the door to new formats such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Crypto donors also tend to give larger gifts and respond strongly to speed, transparency, and a feeling of connection to the ecosystems they support.
Traditional finance is fragmented across currencies and jurisdictions, slowing down global coordination. Crypto offers a unified financial rail: the same asset can move seamlessly between countries, partners, and field teams. This improves cross-border collaboration and helps nonprofits maintain steady operations even in complex or fragile environments.
It’s worth noting that while early crypto donations were mostly in Bitcoin and Ethereum, stablecoins now power much of the practical use. Their predictable value makes them easier for nonprofits to work with, and their digital format allows funds to move fluidly between teams and country offices. For many organizations, stablecoins end up being the first part of the crypto toolkit that feels immediately operational.
As organizations go deeper into these tools, the implications stretch far beyond fundraising and aid distribution. Large nonprofits are beginning to test onchain treasury management, cross-border liquidity tools for country offices, and clearer tracking of restricted funds. What’s really emerging is a set of new opportunities to streamline workflows, reduce administrative overhead, and build more responsive financial operations—along with room to explore new approaches and innovations.
A famous experiment in crypto philanthropy was UkraineDAO’s 2022 auction of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag, which raised 6.75 million dollars in just a few days. Seeing how a single digital artwork became a global funding vehicle without any complex fundraising logistics gave nonprofits a glimpse of what programmable assets can really enable. Even today, NFTs remain a compelling format, even if they come with challenges such as volatility, fast-moving attention cycles, and the need for clearer reporting.
Experiments also extend to the coordination of resources. Because crypto transfers work at any size, people can contribute very small amounts without high fees, and communities can pool funds with almost no administrative overhead. Endaoment’s onchain donor-advised fund (DAF) does exactly that: Donors can contribute to shared pools, automate recurring grants, and participate in allocation decisions with far more visibility than traditional DAFs allow. This empowers people to influence funding decisions, even when their stake is small.
Governance is a complementary area of experimentation. Onchain grant communities set as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) let their members vote together on how resources are allocated. Decisions are recorded onchain, participation is open, and approval flows don’t rely on traditional committees. Projects like NounsDAO, which has funded a range of social-impact initiatives, including a school in Uganda, show how these models can support public-facing work.
On the donor side, there’s a growing interest in algorithmic giving, where automated agents or AI-managed funds donate directly from onchain treasuries. Some token communities, including memecoin groups, have organized sizable charitable donations driven by shared identity rather than institutional campaigns. We’re also seeing experiments where contributors receive onchain badges, governance rights, or reputation signals for participating in efforts, creating a form of “impact identity” that travels across platforms.
In the future, we expect to see nonprofits test models that run natively onchain. Some are already experimenting with outcome-linked tokens, where funding is tied to verified results. Others are exploring donation streams powered by staking yields. An example of this is Lido Impact Staking, which collaborates with organizations like UNICEF Venture Fund, allowing supporters to stake ETH and direct a portion of the ongoing rewards to impact causes. Approaches like these help organizations build continuous, programmable funding flows where distribution, verification, and reporting operate on the same digital infrastructure.
Beyond simple donations, crypto philanthropy is giving nonprofits room to test new approaches to funding, coordination, and governance that were once too costly or complex to run. But it’s also important to be aware of the challenges and limitations that come with it.
Today, regulation is still one of the trickier parts of crypto philanthropy. Rules around digital assets differ widely across countries, and nonprofits often need clarity before accepting or holding crypto. In the US (where most crypto-philanthropy data comes from), nonprofits must follow IRS guidelines on how crypto gifts are valued and reported, and many organizations take extra care to ensure compliance with global sanctions and AML rules. These factors can slow implementation, but they’re increasingly manageable as the ecosystem matures.
Price volatility is another thing to keep in mind. Stablecoins remove much of the risk, but many donations still arrive in tokens like Bitcoin or Ether. During the 2022 market downturn, some nonprofits saw gifts lose value before they could convert them. In response, more organizations now set simple crypto treasury policies that cover hold times, approval steps, and how quickly assets should be converted. Many also rely on auto-conversion tools from providers like The Giving Block or BitPay, which settle donations into stablecoins or fiat the moment they arrive. These practices don’t erase volatility, but they make it much easier to manage in a steady, predictable way.
Security and fraud risks are another ongoing concern. Some nonprofits have dealt with spoofed wallet addresses, phishing attempts aimed at staff and donors, and scam campaigns that pretend to be well-known charities. High-profile industry failures, including the FTX collapse in 2022, also created reputational worries that many boards still remember. Solid communication and basic wallet-security practices help a lot, but they take time and training to put in place. And when blockchain-based tools are incorporated into program design or field operations, the work becomes even more complex, with practical challenges that organizations need to plan for from the start.
Not every experimental model scales easily. NFTs, DAOs, and onchain funding pools can be powerful, but they depend on active communities, sustained engagement, or market conditions that many nonprofits can’t maintain. Most organizations still prioritize predictable revenue over formats tied to fluctuating assets or attention cycles. These tools open new possibilities, but they rarely replace established funding models overnight.
Accepting crypto is a manageable first step for nonprofits curious about crypto philanthropy. It often fits into existing workflows and helps teams understand how digital assets move through their financial systems before exploring more advanced tools.
Most organizations begin with a donation service provider because it simplifies setup, receipting, conversion, and compliance. Platforms such as The Giving Block, Endaoment, Engiven, BitPay, and Gemini Giving offer straightforward onboarding and reduce security exposure by handling key technical components. Some of them also provide embeddable widgets for your website and send automatic email notifications when a donation is received.
If your organization chooses to hold assets directly, establish clear security from the start. Use multi-factor authentication, restrict access to wallet credentials, ensure more than one person approves transfers, and document simple procedures for custody. Decide whether you will convert donations into fiat or stablecoins, and at what point in your workflow this happens.
A short internal policy keeps your workflow consistent. It should clarify which assets you accept, how quickly volatile tokens are converted, how transfers are authorized, and how donations are recorded in your accounting system.
You can also assign roles to streamline this: one person may manage fundraising integration, another handles financial oversight, and another manages technical access. Clear ownership reduces friction as donation volume grows. Also, a simple internal orientation can help staff feel confident speaking about crypto donations and answering basic donor questions.
Crypto donations are generally treated as non-cash contributions, but the exact rules vary by country. Nonprofits should know how these gifts are recorded, what documentation donors need, and whether any reporting is required when digital assets are received or converted. Most donation providers handle sanctions and AML checks, while organizations holding their own wallets may need simple procedures for reviewing unusual transfers.
In the US, nonprofits issue a receipt with the date and description of the asset. Elsewhere, digital assets may be classified differently, so it is important to confirm local requirements with an accountant or advisor.
A dedicated crypto donation page helps donors give with confidence. It should explain which assets you accept, how receipts are issued, and whether donations are converted immediately. If you use your own wallet, publish the official address and provide a simple method for donors to verify it. This reduces the risk of misdirected transfers or spoofed campaigns.
Once your system is in place, crypto can be added to the campaigns you already run. End-of-year appeals, emergency responses, peer-to-peer initiatives, and matched giving all adapt well to digital asset donors. Many nonprofits participate in Crypto Giving Tuesday to reach new audiences. The goal is to widen existing pathways, not create a separate fundraising track.
As donations start coming in, pay attention to how the system feels in practice. Notice the volume and types of gifts, how conversions are handled, the level of admin work involved, and whether the workflow fits smoothly into your finance routines.
When the basics feel stable, you can explore additional blockchain tools where they make sense. These may include stablecoins for cross-border transfers, automated disbursement with smart contracts, onchain donor-advised funds, or token-based donor engagement formats. Start with small, focused pilots and expand only when they offer clear operational advantages.
Philanthropy has held onto traditional systems longer than many other industries, but crypto is beginning to challenge that. Its speed, transparency, and global reach reflect how people already give and interact online, making it harder for nonprofits to rely on slower, legacy processes. Perhaps the most significant role web3 can play is encouraging organizations to update how they move money and engage supporters, freeing more time and resources for the impact they deliver.
We help nonprofits cut through the noise and explore practical ways to use tools like crypto donations, transparent funding, and decentralized collaboration. Whether you're just getting started or ready to take the next step, our workshops and advisory services can help you move forward with clarity and confidence.👉 Learn more about our consulting services
